Tamper evident closure for bottles of quality liquor

ABSTRACT

A closure particularly for a bottle for a good-quality liquor which renders the difference between an intact bottle and a wrongfully opened bottle unusually clear, comprises a pourer body of predetermined axis fixed axially and angularly to the bottle, a cap having a skirt screwed onto the pourer body, a sleeve in at least two portions extending around the bottle, and a tubular appendix forming around an extension of the skirt of the cap and extending around the sleeve in order to keep the at least tow portions juxtaposed.

The present invention relates to a closure, particularly for a bottlefor a good-quality liquor, of the type comprising a pourer body ofpredetermined axis, fixed axially and angularly to the bottle, and a caphaving a skirt which is screwed onto the pourer body.

As is known, in a closure of this type, efforts are always made to makeclear to a purchaser visually that a bottle put on sale has wrongfullyor fraudulently been opened by an unauthorized person.

For this purpose, a closure which is in use has a cap that is made ofaluminium sheet and is screwed onto the pourer body in a manner suchthat, when it is unscrewed, the cap is separated from a band as a resultof breakage along a line of weakening. Although this closure isadvantageous from various points of view and is widely used, it leavessomething to be desired from the point of view of showing that openinghas taken place. The aluminium band in fact remains substantially in thevicinity of the cap once the bottle has been reclosed after opening.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The problem upon which the present invention is based is that ofdevising a closure of the type specified which has structural andfunctional characteristics such as to overcome the above-mentioneddisadvantage, that is, to render clearly visible the difference betweenan intact bottle and a bottle which has been opened in an unauthorizedmanner.

This problem is solved by a closure of the type specified which ischaracterized in that it comprises a sleeve composed of at least twoportions extending around the bottle, and a tubular appendage orappendix forming an extension of the skirt of the cap and extendingaround the sleeve in order to keep the at least two portions juxtaposed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Further characteristics and the advantages of the closure according tothe present invention will become clear from the following descriptionof a preferred embodiment thereof given by way of non-limiting examplewith reference to the appended drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a partially-sectioned, elevational view of a closure accordingto the invention,

FIG. 2 shows a detail of the closure of FIG. 1, in section and on anenlarged scale, and

FIG. 3 shows the closure of FIG. 1 with parts separated.

With reference to the appended drawings, a closure for a bottle 2,preferably but not exclusively a bottle intended to contain agood-quality liquor, is generally indicated 1.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

The bottle 2 comprises a neck of axis X—X, which is defined by an innersurface 4, by an outer surface 5, and by a flat top 6.

In the flat top 6, towards the outer surface 5, the bottle has a recess7, for example, located circumferentially at a point.

A groove 8 and a collar 9 are formed in the outer surface 5.

The closure 1 comprises a pourer body 10 of axis X—X, associatedcoaxially with the neck 3 of the bottle 2 and fixed axially andangularly to the bottle.

The pourer body 10 comprises an inner body 11 and an outer body 12 fixedtogether in the manner which will be described below.

The inner body 11, of axis X—X, comprises a tubular portion 13, a flangeportion 14, projecting from the tubular portion 13 with an outer portion15 and an inner portion 16, and a tubular portion 17.

The flange portion 14 lies on the flat top 6. A tooth 18 projects fromthe outer portion 15 and engages the recess 7. A tooth 19 projects fromthe opposite side of the outer portion 15 to the tooth 18 and is locatedat a point of its circular periphery.

The tubular portion 17 engages the inner surface 4 of the neck 3 withpredetermined force.

The outer body 12 comprises a tubular portion 20 and a larger-diametertubular portion 21, defining an inner shoulder 22.

A recess 23 is formed in the inner shoulder 22 and the tooth 19 isengaged therein.

A thread 24 is formed externally on the larger-diameter tubular portion21 of the outer body 12.

An annular projection 25 formed internally in the tubular portion 21, isin engagement in the groove 8 in order to restrain the outer body 12 andthe inner body 11 on the bottle 2.

The tubular portion 13 of the inner body 11 and the tubular portion 20of the outer body 12 are juxtaposed coaxially. The tubular portion 17 ofthe inner body 11 and the tubular portion 21 of the outer body 12, onthe other hand, are spaced apart and define an annular space 26 forhousing the neck 3 of the bottle.

A step 27 is formed in the tubular portion 21, defining a shoulder 28and a locating portion 29 having an outside diameter substantially equalto the outside diameter of the collar 9.

The closure 1 further comprises a cap 30 which comprises a top 31 and atubular skirt 32. The tubular skirt 32 has an internal thread 33 engagedwith the thread 24 by screwing. A tubular projection 34 projecting fromthe top 31 is in leaktight engagement with the inner body 11 of thepourer body 10.

The closure 1 according to the invention also comprises a sleeve 35 ofaxis X—X, which is formed in at least two portions. In the embodimentshown, the sleeve 35 is formed in two portions, that is, it isconstituted by a half-sleeve 36 and a half-sleeve 37. The twohalf-sleeves 36 and 37 are juxtaposed to form the sleeve 35.

The sleeve 35 extends around the bottle 2 substantially at the level ofthe collar 9 and also extends around the outer body 12 of the pourerbody 10, substantially at the level of the locating portion 29. Itshould be noted that an end 38 of the sleeve 35 abuts the shoulder 28.

The closure 1 according to the invention also comprises a tubularextension 39 which is integral with the skirt 32 and forms an extensionof the skirt 32. The tubular extension 39 constitutes a hoop relative tothe sleeve 35 and keeps its two portions, that is, the two half-sleeves36 and 37, juxtaposed.

The cap and its tubular extension are preferably made of a transparentplastics material, for example, polystyrene or polycarbonate.

As for the sleeve 35, it is preferably made of a plastics material of abright colour, for example red, and bears visible accentuating marks Sformed in high relief, in low relief, by painting, by printing, or byperforations in the solid material.

The accentuating marks S are advantageously representative of an intactstate of the closure and hence of a sealed state of the bottle.

Breakable means 40 of engagement between the sleeve 35 and the tubularextension 39 are advantageously provided in the closure 1 according tothe invention. In particular, the breakable engagement means 40 comprisea ring 41 of axis X—X, coaxial with the sleeve 35 and associatedtherewith by means of a line of weakening 42. The line of weakening 42takes the form of six equiangularly spaced breakable bridges 43extending between the ring 41 and the end 38 of the sleeve.

It should be noted that, between the outer body 12 of the pourer 10 andthe tubular extension 39, there is a short space E through which thering 41 is inserted by force so as to occupy a recess 44 formed in thetubular extension 39 and delimited by a shoulder 45.

The shoulder 28 and the shoulder 45 are substantially at the same leveland the space E is also at the same level, with the breakable bridges 43extending across it.

To favour the forced insertion of the ring 41 in the recess 44 throughthe space E, lead-in chamfers, indicated 46 and 47, respectively areprovided in the ring 41 and in the outer body 12.

When the closure 1 is unscrewed for the first time, the cap 30 movesupwards away from the pourer body 10. As soon as contact takes placebetween the shoulder 45 and the ring 41, there is an increase in theunscrewing effort which is perceived by the user as a security element.As the unscrewing effort continues, the line of weakening 42 breaks andthe cap 30 can be removed. As soon as the cap 30 is removed, the hoopeffect of the tubular extension 39 on the sleeve is lost and the twohalf-sleeves separate and fall to the ground.

If the cap 30 is screwed on again in an attempt re-establish the intactstate of the bottle, the absence of the sleeve remains apparent andextremely obvious and the fact that unauthorized opening has taken placeis sure to be noticed by the purchaser so that the attempt fails.

In other words, in operation, when the bottle is opened for the firsttime, the sleeve is released as a result of the unscrewing and removalof the cap so that the two half-sleeves fall to the ground and are lost.Subsequent reclosure of the cap leaves an obvious great differencebetween the opened bottle and intact bottles which have never beenopened, precisely owing to the absence of the sleeve.

The main advantage of the closure according to the present inventionlies in the unusual difference between the intact condition and thewrongfully or fraudulently opened condition of the bottle.

A further advantage of the closure according to the present invention isthat it is comfortable during the opening operation. There is in fact aprogression from an initial small effort to a greater effort whichindicates that a security element has been overcome and, finally, areturn to a small effort to complete the unscrewing.

A further advantage of the closure according to the present inventionlies in the fact that the sleeve in at least two portions, which isvisible from the exterior, can be formed by aesthetically pleasingelements so as to show off to further advantage the liquor bottle forwhich the closure is intended.

Finally, a further advantage of the closure according to the presentinvention is that it is structurally simple and can therefore beproduced on a large or very large scale.

Naturally, in order to satisfy contingent and specific requirements, anexpert in the art may apply to the above-described embodiment of theclosure, many modifications and variations all of which, however, areincluded within the scope of protection of the invention as defined bythe following claims.

1. A closure for a bottle, the bottle having a body and a neck, the neckextending along a longitudinal axis and having an inner surface, anouter surface and a flat top, the closure comprising: a pourer bodyfixed axially and angularly to the bottle neck, extending axially alongsaid outer surface of the bottle neck and being provided with a bottomedge; a cap having a skirt which is screwed onto the pourer body; asleeve having an outer surface and composed of at least two separateportions extending around the bottle neck; and a tubular appendixaxially connected to said skirt of the cap, said tubular appendixextending around said sleeve and covering the outer surface of saidsleeve and keeping the at least two portions circumferentially adjacentto each other before the cap is removed from the pourer body, and toallow the at least two portions of the sleeve to fall away from thebottle neck when the cap is removed from the pourer body.
 2. A closureaccording to claim 1, wherein an annular space is provided between saidtubular appendix and said pourer body, said annular space extendingaxially above said sleeve.
 3. A closure according to claim 2, includinga ring positioned inside said annular space, said ring being axiallyconnected to the portions of said sleeve by means of a line ofweakening.
 4. A closure according to claim 3, wherein said ring is forcefit into said annular space.
 5. A closure according the claim 1, whereinsaid pourer body is provided, near said bottom edge, with an outwardlyradially extending shoulder forming a first axial abutment and saidtubular appendix of the cap skirt is provided with an inwardly radiallyextending shoulder forming a second axial abutment, the first and secondaxial abutments facing each other.
 6. A closure according to claim 5,wherein the first and second axial abutments are positioned on a sameplane transverse to said longitudinal axis.
 7. A closure according toclaim 6, wherein said tubular appendix of the cap skirt is transparentand the sleeve is brightly colored.
 8. A closure according to claim 7,wherein visible marks are carried by the sleeve.